"Saltzman!" Penelope Park hollered, stopping the small brunette in her tracks. Her grip on her books tightened, and she began to shake with nerves. There was only one reason that Penelope would take time out of her day to acknowledge Josie's existence: the girl was looking to pick a fight, and Josie had been her unfortunate target. Josie wanted to move, but she seemed to be stuck in her place; Of course Penelope Park would use an immobility spell to make sure Josie couldn't escape. The click of Penelope's heels sounded down the hall, and in a matter of moments, the raven-haired girl was standing in front of Josie, her coven behind her, anticipating what Penelope would do. Josie swallowed hard, avoiding Penelope's eyes. Penelope, unsatisfied to not have Josie's sole attention on her, snapped her fingers twice, bringing Josie's brown eyes to face her own. Behind her hazel irises, Josie could see the mischievous glint in the girl's eyes. If Josie hadn't been worried before, she was now. The only thing worse than being targeted by the head witch was being tracked down when Penelope was in a bad mood. It seemed to be Josie's lucky day because Penelope was smirking at her with a look that would make the devil cry. "My, my, my Josie; Don't you know that it is rude not to acknowledge someone when they are talking to you?", Penelope scolded in a brash tone that succeeded in capturing Josie's full attention. "There- that's much better. Wouldn't want anyone thinking the school's resident teacher's pet had a backbone." Penelope snatched the books from Josie's hands, and as much as she wanted to Josie could do nothing to stop her. "These notebooks look pretty heavy. Maybe we should give her some help, hmm girls?" The gang of witches snickered behind her, some even cheering Penelope on. Penelope waved her hand quickly over the books, watching Josie's horrified reaction as they were reduced to ash right in front of her eyes.
Penelope laughed at Josie's panicked look, instigating the others behind her to do the same. "Aww, what are you going to do, Josette? Go cry to daddy about it.", she teased, eliciting more laughter. "Everyone in this school knows that you're the weakest witch here- you're barely one at all. You and your crazy ass sister don't belong here." Penelope uncast the spell over Josie, causing the girl to tumble to the ground. Josie looked up at Penelope in disbelief- she had barely ever said more than a few words to the witch. Josie just didn't understand how someone could be so cruel to someone they barely knew. Penelope flipped her hair over her shoulder, shooing Josie away from her presence. "Go and run along now; I'm growing quite bored with you, anyway." She spun on her heels, walking off as the other witches followed her obediently. Josie collected herself from up off the floor, reluctantly walking to her environmental magic class empty-handed. The professor- known to be one of the more strict teachers in the Salvatore school- scolded her for being late, then again when she realized that Josie had come to class unprepared. Josie apologized profusely, slinking away to the seat in the back corner of the room. She kept her head down for the majority of the class, taking notes on a loose sheet of paper. Without her class notes, she struggled through the pop quiz the professor threw at them right before the lesson had ended; Josie knew her grade point average would suffer as a result. She was relieved when the bell finally rung, signaling that her classes were done for the day.
To Josie's relief, she was able to make it to her father's office without running into Penelope and her posse again. She knocked on the heavy oak door, peeking into the room. Alaric Saltzman looked up at the door, smiling when he realized it was only his daughter. "Yes, Damon, I'm going to have to call you back.", he spoke into the phone, hanging it up without waiting for a reply. He motioned for Josie to come inside, and she did so, closing the door behind her. "Hello, honey. I'm glad you came by- I know it's been a few days since I've been able to see you girls.", he rambled, shuffling through his paperwork while he spoke. "Come have a seat. How are the classes? Still getting good grades, I hope?" Josie squirmed in her seat, nodding her head solemnly. Her father, oblivious to his daughter's discomfort, gave her an encouraging grin. "That's my girl.", he praised, making Josie squirm in her seat under his attention. "Is there something specific you came in here for, sweetheart?" Josie sighed. "Yeah, there is. I ran out of notebooks, and I need a few for class.", Josie admitted, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. Alaric frowned.
"That's the third time this semester, Josie. Where is all this paper going?" Josie swallowed hard, biting back the urge to tell her father the truth. If she did so, she would only be proving Penelope Park right- Josie really didn't have a backbone. "Just a lot of notetaking, dad.", she lied. "I just need a few dollars to go into town and buy some." Alaric eyed Josie suspiciously but was cut off from asking anything further when the phone rang on his desk. He turned his attention away from Josie, picking up the phone off of its receiver. "Salvatore School for the young and gifted- Dr. Saltzman is speaking.", he answered. He listened for a moment before holding his hand over the speaker. "Josie, honey, you're going to have to excuse me. I must take this phone call.", he explained, making Josie sigh with relief that she was no longer under interrogation. "Do you think ten dollars will cover the cost of those notebooks you need?" Josie nodded, and Alaric quickly handed the money over to her. Josie slipped the bill into her pocket, deciding against saying goodbye to her father as she left. He wouldn't have heard it even if she did.
He never did.
YOU ARE READING
This Love (Calling My Name)
Fanfiction"My, my, my Josie; Don't you know that it is rude not to acknowledge someone when they are talking to you?", Penelope scolded in a brash tone that succeeded in capturing Josie's full attention. "There- that's much better. Wouldn't want anyone thinki...
